Look who's crawling! Little Prince Charming George shows off new skills at New Zealand playgroup on his first official engagement
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Prince George undertook his first royal crawl-about today as he attended a parent and baby group with his own, world-famous, mummy and daddy.
The eight-month-old was brought along by his clearly proud parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, to the ‘playdate’ organised by The Royal New Zealand Plunket Society at Government House in Wellington.
Following his scene-stealing appearance on Monday when the family arrived in New Zealand to begin their three week tour Down Under, all eyes were on the future king as he was introduced to ten babies born within a few weeks of his own birthday, on July 22 last year.
It was the first time that the third in line to the throne had undertaken a public duty – of sorts. But it clearly won’t be the first, in what will be a lifetime of royal service.
Prince George shares a playdate with ten lucky families at Government House in Wellington on Wednesday and shows he's starting to crawl
The gorgeous eight-month-old appeared very taken with one particular toy, holding it in the air and giggling as he played on the floor of the stately home
Sitting cross legged on the floor, the young prince was animated as he called out to his mother
Fortunately George, whose first two bottom teeth recently popped through, conducted his debut public engagement with the confidence of a seasoned pro.
Crawling around on the plush blue patterned carpet of the Blandor Room, which was littered with toys including building bricks and a xylophone, George was one of the biggest babies there - 'quite a bruiser' one onlooker remarked.
Dressed in blue Rachel Riley dungaree shorts with a ship on the front, a white blouse and soft blue pre walking shoes, he had no fear in pulling himself up towards the other children - and stealing their toys.
Kate looked her usually elegant self in a black and white print Tory Burch dress with a fringe detail at the sleeves and hem.
She watched on protectively, occasionally wiping some dribble from his chin, as William chatted to some of the other parents.
'It's madness, there are babies everywhere!' he exclaimed.
At one point the Duchess pulled her son to his feet and helped him bounce up and down - showing that the prince probably isn't far off 'cruising' yet.
Kate, with George still in her arms, talked to Ingrid, 29, and David, 28, Alve with baby Eden.
George was getting restless, kicking his legs against his mum, so she put him down on the floor to allow him to crawl.
Prince George hugged tightly to his mother's arms as William, who had been swapping stories with the other parents, looked on
The young royal was presented with a giant and very fluffy blue bear by an an organiser at the Plunket event
George looked a little wary of the large stuffed toy and didn't seem to keen to get any closer
The little prince set off at quite a pace, across the NZ fern-patterned carpet of the Blundell room.
He was stopped in his tracks by baby Amelia Howe who grabbed a plastic block from him.
Baby Amelia started yelling at this royal encounter as her mother, Stephanie van Heuven, apologised to Kate for the bawling - but George crawled serenely on.
He then got hold of a blue plastic block which he put in his mouth.
Baby Sophie Bainbridge crawled past Kate completely oblivious to the royal visitor.
Kate said 'Hello' but Sophie ignored her and kept in crawling.
George then picked up a purple tambourine and started shaking it-gurgling with delight at the noise.
Baby Eden, dressed in floral dress and headband, got in George's way and he reached out to stroke her face.
Then he reached out a little bit too far and hit Eden in the face with a flailing arm. She lost her headband in the mellee but seemed unperturbed.
Kate then picked up George.
Kate mingled with the other first-time parents, holding her son, who was dressed in a pair of navy blue dungarees, in her arms
A multi-coloured toy caught George's attention but he didn't seem too pleased when he eventually got a hold of it
The toy shall be mine! Prince George likes the look of a small doll that one of the other children was playing with and makes a grab for it
The Duchess of Cambridge spoke to a number of parents as the young prince scratched his ears
THE 'GEORGE EFFECT': THE FASHION SENSE OF BRITAIN'S YOUNG PRINCE
For his first official engagement, George looked very cute in navy smocked dungarees from British label Rachel Riley.
The dungarees, which Prince George wore over a white shirt and blue booties, featured a sail boat design on the front and retail for £77 (AUD$125).
The little prince has already caused fashion sensations during the Royal Tour. The kangaroo backpack, which Prince William was seen holding when his plane touched down in Sydney, sold out within hours of the family's appearance at Sydney airport.
Dad Ryan Tunstall said: 'Isabella and George had a lot of fun on the drums.
'It was a pleasure sharing our beautiful baby with the duke and duchess The whole thing was a wonderful highlight.'
Grant Collins, 38, and Magda Gurbowicz, 35 met the royals with baby Lucas.
Grant said: 'We found out Lucas had more teeth than George so he's winning that race!
'George has got about four or five teeth coming through. Lucas has got his seventh coming on.
'We chatted to the Duke first and asked about how they and George coped with the jet-lag.
'William said sleeping and distracting (the baby) was the best thing to get over jet-lag and that's what they'd done with George.
We spoke to the Duchess about group play - George had never played with so many babies before.
'She said it was the most amount of babies they'd ever had in a room with George.
'He does see other babies, but not many in a group like this.
'George is bubbly, quite feisty and he took control. He crawled to the centre of the room and he owned the place.
Quite enthralled with his new toy, George looked up and gurgled in the direction of his mother
The young prince looked a tad bemused as he inspected his toy while one of his playmates gazed with equal perplexity at hers, he then lifted his toy as the girl attempted to put hers in her mouth
He then made his way over to some of the other brightly coloured toys scattered across the floor of the stately home
Young George didn't seem too interested in one of the young girls, that is until she reached out to touch his face
Plunket, the organisation behind the playdate wrote a special note to Prince George expressing their excitement about meeting him
'He honed in on certain toys and took the ones that he wanted, no-one was going to stand in his way!'
Gay parents Jared Mullen and Ryan McRae, who have baby Isabella, spoke about their experience afterwards.
Mr Mullen said: 'Isabella and George had a little play together, they were chums.
'In a way all we did was talk about babies. The Duke and Duchess were lovely, they were both very relaxed and we chatted about our experiences as first time parents.
'He (George) is a lovely little boy, very intrepid.
'The whole thing has been a huge privilege. It was lovely to meet the Duke and Duchess and share our beautiful children with them. They are both very lovely and loving parents.
'George liked the drum and the standing up play station.
'At the end of the day it comes back to the fact that we are first time parents.'
Prince William spent most of his time sharing his and Kate's parenting experience with the other parents
A few of the other first-time parents gathered around Kate as she lifted her son to his feet. The playgroup is made up of ten families whose children were born within two weeks of George's July 22 birthday
Mr McRae added: 'It was such a big day.'
Grant Collins added: 'The Duchess said George was sleeping well through the night and that he's on solid food now so that has really helped his sleeping.'
Sheila and Soani Lemalie met the royals with baby TJ (TagiiLima).
Sheila, who works in childcare, looked lovely - and very patriotic - in a traditional blue Samoan dress, with white flowers and red necklace.
She said: 'It was a very special time. We had a chance to cuddle George - he is very strong and very advanced.
'We talked to the Duke and Duchess about parenting - and to the Duchess about her role as both a mother and a royal.
'She said she was lucky to have help with George from her family and her friends. She is very down-to-earth and charming - they both are.
'Prince William said he supported his wife by giving George his bottle at night and putting him to bed.
'I was very nervous because this was my first time experience meeting royalty.
A toy held by another child catches the prince's eye as the Duchess makes faces to draw his attention
While the Duchess was very hands on with her young son, George's nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo (L) was also keeping an eye on the young prince
'I feel very special.
'Different children develop differently but George is very advanced for his age.
'He was crawling and wanting to walk in an advanced way - more so than my son who is younger than him.'George is almost trying to walk - he can pull himself up and he is almost there. He will be crawling soon.'
All of the babies present were from local families and chosen by the organisation, which provides health care and support to new families, known in New Zealand simply as Plunket.
The idea was to give the William and Kate the opportunity to introduce George to the world in a less formal way than usual and give the couple a chance to swap anecdotes about the trials and tribulations of being first-time parents.
Kate Bainbridge, 29, a tax accountant whose daughter Sophie was born on July 11, said in advance of the meeting: ‘I’ve had a few jealous looks from other parents when they found out we were meeting the Duke and Duchess.
'Even though we come from a very different background we have got a lot in common with the Duke and Duchess because we’ve been through the sleepless nights and we can talk to them about our experiences.
‘We are all first-time parents, like them, so it should be quite easy to chat to them.’
The young royal appeared more interested with his mother's hair than the other children and was seen gently pulling her brunette tresses away from the Duchess' face
The young prince seemed completely besotted with his beautiful mother as he gazed into her eyes
The adorable eight-month-old appeared relaxed as Kate proudly introduced him to the other first time parents
Held securely in his mother's arms, George pulled at his mother's hair while looking displeased (L) she then bent down to pick up a toy (R)
Philip Gray, 40, who was due to meet the couple with his wife Alana, 31, and daughter Lily, born on July 16, said: ‘The good thing about kids is they’re unpredictable so I’m sure there will be a lot of laughter. Babies are a great ice-breaker.’
Also meeting the royal visitors will be gay fathers Jared Mullen and Ryan McRae and their daughter Isabella.
Jared, from Oregon, US, and Ryan, from Australia, were chosen to represent the growing numbers of same-sex couples in New Zealand who use Plunket’s parental support services.
Tristine Clark, New Zealand president of Plunket, said: ‘The parents are a spread of all the communities in New Zealand, including Maoris, Samoans, people of Chinese descent and gay couples. This is a very multi-cultural country and we wanted the Duke and Duchess to meet people from all backgrounds.’
Mrs Clark said the Duke and Duchess did not specifically ask to meet a gay couple, leaving the choice of parents entirely down to Plunket.
Tina Syme, Plunket’s area manager for Wellington, was the woman tasked with choosing the ten sets of parents. She said she started by looking for local couples whose children were born around the same time as Prince George, looked for parents from diverse backgrounds - including a single mother - and tried to get an even split of girls and boys.
‘The first 10 people who I called and who picked up the phone are the ones who will be attending,’ she said. ‘There are some couples who I called and who have missed out because they didn’t answer.’
Mr Gray said he will be the third generation of his family to meet a royal visitor. His grandfather Bob Graham met the Queen when he was serving in the Royal New Zealand Air Force and his father Robert Gray met the Prince of Wales.
The Duchess began chatting to the parents of a blonde-haired tot before George appeared to do something to upset her
Kate attempted to comfort the shrieking child but to no avail
‘Now I’m meeting the next two generations down, and maybe our daughter will met Prince George’s children one day,’ said Mr Gray, an accountant.
His wife Alana, who works in marketing, said: ‘We followed the Duchess’s pregnancy and birth because it was happening at the same that I was pregnant. It’s a nice link to the UK.’
The Royal New Zealand Plunket Society, known to all as Plunket, was founded in 1907 by paediatrician Sir Frederic Truby King. He wanted to help babies and mothers dying of malnutrition and disease, and in 1908 the influential Victoria Plunket, wife of the then Governor-General, became its patron, giving the organisation her name.
Today Plunket, a non-profit organisation, helps more than 90 per cent of all babies born in New Zealand, with free childcare advice, home visits and other services.
Its mission is to ‘ensure that New Zealand children are among the healthiest in the world’.
Earlier this week it caused controversy by fitting a forward-facing car seat for eight-month-old Prince George in the Cambridges’ official car, despite telling parents all children under the age of two should be in rear-facing seats.
The Duke and Duchess enjoyed a day of rest and recuperation with George yesterday after arriving in Wellington on Monday.
The couple were welcomed with a traditional ceremony on the lawns of Government House where they were greeted by the New Zealand Governor General Lieutenant General The Right Honourable Sir Jerry Mateparae, his wife Lady Janine and Maori elders.
Prince George began his tour of Australia and New Zealand with his parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on Monday
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